Awami League secures more than half of total votes cast in municipal election

The ruling Awami League has commanded 52 percent of the total votes cast in 199 municipalities during the Dec 30 election.

That is 4 percentage points more votes than the party secured in the ninth parliamentary polls.

This municipal election was the first-ever local government one to be held along political party lines in Bangladesh.

The BNP, which locked horns with its arch-rival after seven years, bagged 28 percent of the total votes, which is 4 percentage points lower than it had secured in the ninth general election, according to an analysis of the final results sent by the returning officers to the Election Commission until Friday.

The results of 227 out of 234 municipalities which went to election on Dec 30, have been announced. The Awami League ran away with 177 of the mayor posts while the BNP managed to win only 22.

According to the EC, 73.92 percent voters had turned out to cast their ballots.

The number of voters in 234 municipalities – 7.1 million – made up only 7 percent of the total number of voters. But the elections had turned into a battle of prestige for the two major parties.

The last time the Awami League with its ‘boat’ symbol and the BNP with ‘paddy sheaves’ had faced off was in the ninth national election in 2008. The Awami League had secured 48.04 percent of the total votes in the election and the BNP 32.50 percent.

Before that election, political analysts had said these two major parties’ ‘main vote banks’ always remain between 30 and 35 percent.

But, the Awami League fared 72.14 percent of total votes in the BNP-boycotted 10th national election. A total of 153 candidates won uncontested in that vote.

In the past seven years, both parties claimed that they enjoyed the most public support, but it was not until this last municipal vote that the political analysts could check the contention.

National Election Observation Council Chairman Prof Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah says the difference of 4 percentage point in the case of both parties considering the percentage of votes was an indicator that the Awami League’s ‘vote base’ has increased.

He said, however, that the BNP had ‘won even after its defeat’ because it ‘eschewed anarchism’ to seek public mandate.

“This result is very important because of the symbols (of the parties). The so-called vote banks are not taken into consideration anymore. Who won in how many municipalities will have to be considered as a yardstick of popularity.

“The ruling party has maintained theirs. The BNP was defeated but they are trying to return to the constitutional process,” he said.

According to Kalimullah, the municipal election was 98 percent ‘fair’.

But former election commissioner Md Sohul Hossain differs with him. “It cannot be said that the municipal election was fair.”

He said the result of this election cannot be used to gauge popularity, either.

“A free and fair election is what is important. If there were no allegations of irregularities, the result of this election nearly two years after the national election could be used to measure popularity (of the parties),” Hossain added.

Of the 234 municipalities that went to the elections on Wednesday, voting in one municipality and in 39 centres of 19 other municipalities was suspended due to irregularities and chaos.

According to the results of 199 municipalities with the EC, 4,273,000 people in those areas cast their votes.

The Awami League candidates drew 2,204,009 votes while the BNP aspirants received 1,203,259 ballots.